Support changes to federal law to allow pesticide lawsuits again
Support “People Over Poison” amendment to federal law
Our Stand: At-A-Glance
Updated Sept 14, 2026
- On June 25, 2026 the US Supreme Court sided with Monsanto/Bayer on a case where a man had been awarded $1.25 million for proving in court that the company caused his cancer.
- The case was brought in Missouri, not federal court, under a law called failure-to-warn, meaning Monsanto/Bayer knew their product could cause cancer but didn’t warn people.
- Monsanto/Bayer argued that they followed all the rules of the EPA, and they couldn’t change their label to add a warning even if they wanted to (and btw they didn’t want to – they fought that in California and won).
- In a shockingly disappointing decision the Court agreed with the multi-national corporation, and asserted that federal law blocked state law claims.
- Two farmer-congresspeople were at the ready, and within a week filed the “People Over Poison” amendment to federal law, which would undo this awful ruling, and give the power back to the states and individuals.
- (Civics refresher, SCOTUS interprets laws that Congress makes but they can get it wrong – so a check and balance here is that Congress can rewrite the law, undoing the effect of the court’s ruling.)
- Two more bills were filed, the “Americans vs. Poisonous Pesticides Act,” and the “Pesticide Harm Accountability Act” which have the same aim – restore the right of American people to pursue a legal remedy when they are injured or even killed by pesticide use.
- Email and call your congresspeople today to tell them to support bills that change the federal pesticide law to be clear Americans can have their day in court!
- If your representative is on the Agriculture Committee, which will hear the bill before the whole House, your message will get an extra boost if you call the office to urge them to support restoring Americans’ right to take pesticide makers to court when use results in harm.